Free Stepbrother Soldier: A Forbidden Military Romance Novel by Emily Whittaker Page B

none of your business!” The Admiral was
screaming, rage on every inch of his face, and began to stumble towards us.
Ashton pushed me away and strode towards his father. With one sudden, swift blow,
the Admiral was on the floor, Ashton standing above him breathing heavily.
There was silence. I was wide-eyed, in shock. Slowly, Ashton turned to me.

 
    “We need to leave now,” he said, his voice
monotone. I looked down at the Admiral’s body.

 
    “I think…I think he’s out…do you….do you think he’s okay?” I
stammered, my thoughts trying to catch up to each other.

 
    “I hope not,” Ashton said, walking back to me quickly. He grabbed my
wrist and pulled me away. I looked back at the figure on the floor as Ashton
swept me out the door. If Ashton hadn’t been there…if he hadn’t come…that body
would be doing unspeakable things to me at that moment.

 
    Ashton pulled me through the door and across the front lawn. I
stumbled behind him, barely able to keep up as I began to sob and my body
seemed to forget how to walk. I knew shock by now, after having gone through it
with my mother, but this was different. I was physically drained, the
adrenaline seeping away and leaving only the desire to sleep behind.

 
    “Where are we going?” I said, mindlessly speaking, as Ashton pushed me
into the passenger seat of his truck.

 
    “Anywhere but here,” he said as he settled into the driver’s seat. He
paused for a moment, looking at me as I quaked and sobbed. Then, he leaned over
and gently pulled the seatbelt around me.

 
    “How did…why did…he would have…if you hadn’t…”

 
    “I should have taken you with me. I shouldn’t have left at all.
There’s a lot you don’t know about my dad, Christy. I saw how drunk he was at
the bar and I knew…with you alone in the house…fuck!” Ashton slammed his hands
against the steering wheel, shaking his head in fury. A moment later, we were
peeling away down the road toward town, going well above the speed limit.

 
    “Are we…are we going…are…apartment?” I was past being able to make
words at that point. Way past. I was basically sleepwalking. My head hurt. I
wanted to sleep for a year. Each bump in the road hit me like a boulder rolling
down a hill.

 
    “It’s not safe there. He knows where it is. He moved me there,
remember?” Ashton sounded agitated, and in my frazzled state I thought it was
my fault.

 
    “I’m sorry,” I said, sniffling. He looked at me,
his eyes wide and sad.

 
    “Don’t ever apologize. You didn’t do anything
wrong. That…that fucking prick…”

 
    “Why…why isn’t your apartment safe?” I was becoming slightly more
aware at that point, at least aware enough to have questions about the things
Ashton was saying.

 
    “You don’t know my dad like I do, Christy. He’ll find us. Wherever we
go, he’ll find us. You think he’s normal…he gets married…he’s a good
husband…it’s all an act, Christy. He’s a bad man. A very, very bad man. And we
won’t be safe until…” his voice trailed off, as though he didn’t know how to
end the sentence.

 
    “Until the cops get him?” I asked. That was the first thing I’d thought
when my mind returned from its fractured state. We needed to call the cops.
Ashton looked at me. I was scared of the way he looked at me. It was almost as
scary as the Admiral’s face had been. But it was scary because he
looked…helpless.

 
    “The cops won’t help us, Christy. They never do. This is Admiral Joe
Walsh. You don’t understand what that means…for us. No, we can’t go to the
cops. Military power runs deep,” Ashton said, his eyes returning to the road.

 
    The sentience I had been displaying up to that point was, apparently,
just a brief return to sanity. As I looked out at the road unfurling before us,
letting Ashton’s words sink in, I felt my stomach turning again, sobs returning
to my throat. I closed my eyes, willing